-Day 01
Huaraz - Yungay (2900m) - Hualcayan (3000m) - Huishcash (4200m). Early in the morning we leave Huaraz towards the Callejón de Huaylas. We pass Carhuaz and stop at Yungay to visit "Campo Santo" – Holy place. Yungay and its 20,000 inhabitants were burried under an avalanche caused by a tremendous earthquake in 1970.
We continue our trip to Hualcayan - the starting point of our trek. Here we meet with our team (porters, donkeys). Ascending a Zig-Zag trial, we slowly gain altitude and can see the northern part of the Callejón de Huaylas. We arrive at our camp site in the late afternoon and can enjoy the beautifull sunset over the Cordillera Negra (4 - 5 hours).
-Day 02
Huishcash (4200m) - Toropishtanan Pass (4850m) - Osoruri (4300m).Today is a challenging one: as the highest pass of the tour awaits us. On our way we pass 2 turquois mountain lakes, Yanacocha and Azulcocha - "Cocha" in Quechua means mountain lake. Continuing our trek we have a beautiful view of Mt. Santa Cruz (6259m) with its impressive ice wall. Finally we come to a mountain lake, which is the beginning of our steep ascent to the pass. At the top we see the Milluacocha (5480m) - on our ascent to the next camp site, Osoruri, we pass this mountain on the right side. (5-6 hours)
-Day 03
Osoruri (4300m) - Alpamayo pass (4750m) - Jancarurish (4200m) Immediately after breakfast we countinue our trek towards the Alpamayo pass from where we once again can see the Milluacocha and the Pilanco (5373m). The descent leads us in several serpentines down to the Los Cedros gorge. We can now admire the first time the perfect ice pyramide of the Alpamayo (5947m) - many mountaineers call it the most beautiful mountain in the world. (6-7 hours)
-Day 04
After two days of challenging trekking over high passes, today we deserve some relaxation - we stay at our camp site. Dependent on your degree of motivation, you can make a short trip to Lake Jancarurish and get an even better view of Alpamayo and Tayapampa (5657m).
-Day 05
Jancarurish (4200m) - Cara Cara Pass (4830m) - Huillca (4000m). Today again is going to be a physically challenging day: two passes are awaiting us. However, first we have to cross a river - hopefully without geting wet. What follows then is a steep ascent towards the first pass. After arriving there we are rewarded with a fantastic view of Jancarurisch (5578m), Quitaraju (6036m) and Santa Cruz (6259m). Again we are impressed by the seemingly unapproachability of these ice giants. After a short break we start our descent down to the Moyobamba valley and then climb the second pass (4500m). From here we see Lake Safuna, which we leave at the left side and head towards our camp site (6-7 hours).
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